Page 170 of Princess of Bael

A subtle energy that didn’t quite belong.

Except none of them seemed to notice it.

My brow furrowed, my instincts firing.Is it just me?I wondered as I reached my room.Is it just that sense of dread from the inevitable?

I twisted the handle, letting myself into the sitting area of my quarters.

No. No, that’s not dread.

The sensation spiked as I shut the door, the electrifying aura hitting my senses like a freight train.Powerful. Drugging. Strong.

Hellfire stirred along my palm as I started toward the intruder, my lips flattening. “I am not in the mood for this,” I said, aware that whoever had intruded on my space was powerful enough to be an Archdemon. “So either start talking or—”

The fiery element died across my palm as I turned the corner, the familiar cool power a kiss to my senses that nearly had my knees buckling in relief.

“I’m having flashbacks to the night we first met,” Ezra drawled from his lounging position on my bed. “What was it I said? Something about firing first and asking questions later?”

“Ezra,” I breathed.

“You know, it’s almost too bad that I didn’t hire a Slither to attack you first. Then I would have cause to strip you and bathe you, just like our first date.”

I nearly laughed. “That was not a date.”

“I undressed you. That qualifies as a date.”

“You didn’t fully undress me,” I reminded him, my blood heating with the reminder of that night. How he’d bathed me. How we’d exchanged blood.Our first kiss.

The gold in his irises flared, drawing me closer to the bed, tohim.

“How about I undress you fully this time?” he offered, his voice low as he slowly slid off of the mattress. “Bathe you even more thoroughly, not just with my hands, but with my tongue?”

My thighs clenched. “Maybe I still want to kill you.”

He continued toward me, his height and strength a very welcome presence in my bedroom. I wasn’t sure how he’d managed to arrive here undetected. Or maybe he had been detected. It would be just like my father to orchestrate dinner as a diversion to keep me from finding out about Ezra’s arrival.

Although, I doubted he would be okay with Ezra surprising me in my quarters.

Regardless, none of it mattered.

Because my mate was here.

In my room.

Standing right in front of me.

Ezra brushed his knuckles across my cheek. “I think you’ll always want to kill me, my queen. It’s part of the allure.”

Notlittle heiressorprincess, butmy queen.

That was a nickname I could become accustomed to.

“If you’re thorough enough, I’ll consider allowing you to live,” I promised.

“Hmm, a challenge.” His knuckles left my face as he palmed the back of my neck, tugging me into him. “Shall we seal the deal with a kiss?”

“Yes,” I whispered. “Yes, we should.”

He grinned, his lips whispering over mine. “It’s been only hours for me, but I missed you.”